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Arion, Lord of Atlantis
Seeds of Hope, Seeds of Darkness
B'zil knew that he was not supposed to go outside without his mother or older brothers; however, there was nothing for the little boy to do and he felt as if he was in the way at the new house where the older members of his family were always cleaning out rubbish or repairing long neglected walls and floors. Thus, the small, bright-eyed little boy waited until everyone was occupied and then he darted silently and swiftly out of the house and into the sunny streets of the city of Mu.
He stopped in his tracks and watched a group of tired and sweaty men and women as they labored with a crane to gently lower a new support beam into place within the roofless upper story of a skeletal building.
B'zil admired the brightly colored uniforms a few of the workers were wearing. They were members of the Royal Guard and had his mind worked on that level, he would have admired the way the soldiers were giving their time to help the new citizens make the long deserted and cursed city into a new home place for the many exiles from the lost and still mourned for City of the Golden Gate! As it was, the quick and astonishingly keen boy merely smiled at the sight of the soldiers and their swords and blasters as they passed by his vantage point.
He drew a toy sword from out of his coat and danced forward to attack a band of ravenous and strictly imaginary jackal men! "Ho! You shall never claim a victory over B'Zil and his friend Arion!" he cried as he turned a corner and ran down an alley as he avoided carts and crowds and the occasional skimmer craft.
Before he realized it, he was lost. He frowned and bit his lower lip as he swallowed hard and determined not to cry. He would not cry! Arion himself would never cry and neither would B'Zil! He had admired Arion the famous hero who had saved Atlantis on more than one occasion ever since he had met the Mage and witnessed him in action.
He looked left and right and then ducked under a broken wagon. He peered out from under the rotted wood and saw three burly figures rush into the alley. They held a struggling woman in their grasps and the fat hand of their leader covered her mouth.
The burly leader wore dangling brass earrings and his hair was oily and scented with an exotic perfume. He caressed the captive woman as his friends turned to guard his back. "Jonno, Lynnid, watch the alley. I'll have my fun and then trade places with you! This little beauty will worth our trouble, eh?" he said with a leer. He slapped the woman in the face and as she fell, he pulled her into his arms. She tried to yell, but he kissed her roughly and prevented her from calling for help.
B'Zil frowned. He knew what was happening was wrong but he didn't know what to do. Still, he did what came to mind. He jumped out of the hiding spot and screamed a battle cry at the top of his lungs! "Yi! Yi! Yi! Yi!" he yelled as he waved his toy sword.
The gang whirled and raised their own real swords as the child stood before them. "Hey! We got ourselves a regular warrior king here!" said the tallest of the three thugs.
The balding blond robber grinned with broken teeth and said, "Aye! Too bad we don't regard royalty of any kind!"
"It is that selfsame lack of respect for others that clearly displays your inhumanity for all to see. Perhaps, your animalistic natures should become even more evident!" said a stentorian voice from the mouth of the alley.
B'Zil's eyed widened with pleasure as auburn haired, slender, nobleman in a bright costume of blue and red stepped into the alley. The regal newcomer glared at the thugs with a look of supreme contempt and drew closer as if he had no reason to fear them or their gleaming weapons. "Arion!" whispered B'Zil as he saw his hero the High Mage of the Atlantean Empire challenge the thugs.
Arion had gestured rapidly in an arcane manner as he had spoken to the men. Now, energy flashed within the dark alley and brightened it as if the noon sun was directly overhead. Before the attackers could make any response to the Mage's entrance, they fell to the ground as his magic contorted and altered their bodies until they transformed into swine! They ran out of the alley as he stepped aside and deftly drew his own long cloak away from contact with their bodies as they hurried passed him!
His harsh scowl softened into a look of concern as he helped the frightened women to her feet and inquired about her welfare. "Are you hurt? Those louts will long remember to regret this day's dark work ere they resume their more human if less natural forms."
She nodded breathlessly and said, "Lord Arion! Tis truly you! I little dreamt I would ever meet you face to face!"
Arion nodded and said, "The honor is entirely my own, Milady. Now, shall we be off from here. Even with the good Royal Guard out and about, the streets of ill-fated Mu are not safe for one so fair!"
He turned and smiled as he reached out one hand. "B'Zil! I thank you for your help. Come with me and aid me in guarding the lady on our journey to her home. I would welcome your good right arm on such a dire trip!"
B'Zil smiled broadly and ran alongside as the Mage took the girl to her home and then led the child to where he belonged as well. "Arion! Do you remember the flower you made? I've never forgot that! We fought that old Weaver, didn't we?" babbled the boy.
Arion nodded and ruffled the child's hair as he directed him over to where his new home stood. "That we did, young B'Zil! Now, do promise me that you will not wonder away from home again. Your mother may need you to protect her as she works, as do we all, to make desolate Mu into a place we may rightly call home!"
B'Zil nodded and said, "I promise! Will you visit us again?"
Arion said, "When time permits me to do so, I shall be pleased to see you and your family. Now, I must be off and about the Queen's business!" He waved as the boy entered the house and received a scolding from his worried mother.
Arion remembered the first time he had met the little boy. The child had spoken to him tentatively but with a deep conviction to ask him to make a seedling grow into a flower with his magic. The child had gazed at him with eyes that gleamed with a mixture of faith and hope. Arion had been moved by the boy's plea and by his obvious trust in Arion's prowess. Still, that trust had come at a time when Arion had lost much of his magic and thus, all he could do was explain to the child that the power to bring maturation to the seedling was beyond his capability. The boy had secretly trailed Arion after their heartfelt discussion until he had witnessed Arion's battle with a mystical being known as the Weaver. At the end of that conflict, thanks in part to B'Zil's courageous act of distraction, Arion had triumphed and had offered to make the flower for the child. He had regained some small access to his lost powers and thus, could do the magic in question.
"I didn't really believe in magic before but now I've seen something greater than a flower, sir! I believe now!" B'Zil had replied.
Arion repeated his own words as he stood in the streets of Mu and remembered that day months earlier. "Oh, but nothing is greater than a flower, lad, nothing!"
He murmured the words again as he turned and started to walk away. He gazed around the city and frowned. "How true were those sentiments? Now I have all the power I could desire but what good can it do me if I can't employ it to make this city a home to my people? I can protect them. I can perhaps, inspire them. However, even with all the power of Calculha surging through me, what magicks can turn cold stones and rubble into a hearth and a home?"
He shook his head as he summoned his old resolve once more. "Time may not permit me to do ought else but patrol these streets and prevent the roving bands of brigands who frequent this once cursed place from harming my people as they forge a new life within these crumbling walls! Still, I shall never surrender to the clouds of despair that threaten to darken my spirit. Atlantis will rise again!"
He gazed upward then with a swift gesture of his hands, he flew into the sky. "I see the signs of steady improvement as my people build and rebuild this place into a new home. Still, Mu will never equal the City of the Golden Gates even in young B'Zil's lifetime. When Chaon's dark malice destroyed that fair and fabled city, it also robbed many of these people of a heritage and a security build 'pon eons of stability and growth."
He sighed as he recalled once more the stark and terrible moment when the monstrous embodiment of Chaos, known as Chaon had manipulated space aliens into attacking the city. Arion had managed to drive him away moments too late to stop him as in one act of gleeful malice, he unleashed a bolt of eldritch might that shattered the city's foundations and caused it to sink beneath the waves.
"Curse the demon for all he did! I managed to save almost every life. We evacuated the devastated city as it fell below the waters into old Altana's scaly embrace. I led the exiles into our golden ships and brought them to the only possible haven for so many lost pilgrims. Mu! The deserted city long haunted by the twin specters of the once impending ice age and the evil wizardry of my brother Garn was the only refuge that could hold so many teaming masses. These streets were emptied by mass exodus nearly 100,000 years ago when the unnatural cold and the coming of Garn Daanuth drove the normal citizens to flee in terror. Now, with the second ice age prevented and Garn fore'er entrapped within the dimension known as Darkworld, Mu may be filled with laughter and hope in place of the rattle of swords and the cries of the fearful!"
He approached the large structure that now housed the royal palace of Queen T'Galla and he sighed. "Calculha grant me the strength to make it so!" he said.
***
Within the Royal Palace an odd trio watched a scene of combat and excess. Wing was a slender man whose lineage would one day be called Oriental when the many diverse cultures and peoples of the Atlantean Empire would eventually settle in scattered parts of the globe and new nations would rise in place of the fabled and glorious Atlantis.
He was a worrier. That was his nature. That was his job. He was good at it. He had served the late King D'Tilluh with an obsessive and self-sacrificing devotion to duty until the monarch who had ruled the City of the Golden Gate for over 175 years finally gave up and took his own life. The suicide of the King had been the result of manipulation of the evil wizard Garn Daanuth. Garn had not forced D'Tilluh to end his life but he had broken his spirit and led the old man to doubt his value to his people and his empire. Thus, it could be said that the Mad Mage of Mu had slaughter good King D'Tilluh. He had destroyed the entire Khewanna-te nation with a tidal wave of destructive force. He had driven the natives of Mu into exile and flight generations earlier. There could be few sins that could not properly be laid on Garn's back.
Now, Wing continued in his capacity as advisor to the monarch; however, the new ruler was a Queen and not a King. Wing was loyal to T'Gallah, daughter of D'Tilluh. Still, as the dynamic and palpably aggressive former mercenary wrestled three of her subjects to the floor of the main reception hall, Wing wondered again if he could ever make the warrior queen into a lady?
She jumped into the air and brought both legs together around the neck of a Lt. Named Karis. She flipped him to the ground and rolled across him to shove him down again. She laughed and casually lifted a second man over her head and held him in a painful submission hold as he kicked helplessly in her grasp.
T'Gallah stood over seven feet tall. She wore only a brief leopard print bikini that displayed her powerful muscles as she laughed and cursed and did everything with the passion and gusto and sheer volume of one who had no time or interest in polite manners or reserved conduct!
She grinned her broad but appealing smile and bared her teeth as she slammed a bare-chested brute to the ground and placed one bare foot on his back. "Ha ha ha! Done and done! The ale is on you, General Tesh! I bested all three of your troops in record time, eh?"
General Tesh, a handsome if somber military man, nodded and threw up his hands in mock defeat from where he had watched the match with Wing and one other man. "Queen T'Gallah, I yield gracefully. You have beaten my best men. Now, this old soldier will return to his duties and receive the reports from the troops stationed on the border walls. That excuse will allow me to slink off with some dignity intact!" he said as he backed out of the room.
T'Gallah tossed back her head and laughed loudly as she saw the look of dismay on Wing's face. "Wing, I will hear your reports as well now that I have worked up a thirst. Your dry facts leave a girl parched!" she said. She slapped him on the back and almost sent the smaller but fit man to his knees.
He said, "Thank you, Majesty! We need to formally receive some agents from the other nine cities of the empire. They need to accept Mu as the new head of the Empire. They need to see stability will be a part of the new regime and the new capitol!"
T'Gallah said, "Fine! Fine! Just try not to have them all be frowning old women like Sir Termaine and those quaking eunuchs who keep shaking their heads at me in disgust!"
She nodded in passing at the final figure that had observed her wrestling match. He was staring at her with open approval and a hungry passion that was clear to see. He was taller than her and possessed the body of a true warrior. He moved with a grace and ease that marked him as one of the last of the lost Khewanne-te people. Lt. Wyynde was T'Gallah's lover and her bodyguard although she certainly had little need of protection from most threats.
The handsome warrior smiled as she winked at him. He laughed to himself as he followed her out of the hallway.
As the group passed by a slender woman in robes of red and pink, she frowned. Her name was Kali and she was Royal Astrologer. She knew them all and she loved them all. She cared for her friends and her Empire and she felt concern because of what she saw within the stars and in the manner of the man named Wyynde. Wyynde is not himself. He has suffered much but his pain and his loss can not explain away the way his entire manner has altered. I see more suffering in his future and yet how can I tell him when he scorns such warnings and sneers at me in such a way? Arion, must listen to me. Only Wyynde's friend and master can make things right! she thought.
Even while Kali brooded over Wyynde's troubled future, Wyynde's past actions were the subject of much discussion between a platinum haired girl named Mara and a lithe and lovely swordswoman named Lady Chian.
Mara sat with her legs curled up beneath her as she perched on top of a sloping stone wall. Below her the agile Lady Chian was nimbly practicing with her sword. The girl babbled on and on and Chian managed to listen while still keeping the perfect sense of self and center so vital to her combat skills. "I mean he was laughing at me! That's why I've been avoiding you all since the migration from the City of the Golden Gate. I didn't want to see him or hear him. It all hurts too much!" said Mara.
Chian frowned and placed her blade in its hip sheath. "Mara, I do not mean to sound harsh but your feelings for Wyynde were ever one sided. He cares for you as a friend but he has never loved you in a romantic way. You can't blame him for seeking out a partner who is more mature... that is to say...that is closer to his own level of age and experience. You must also realize that his words and deeds are greatly altered from what they were when we first met you on the snowy planes outside the city. He lost his father. He took the role of Dhonu or Chief of the Khewannan-Tu and then went along with a marriage of state. All of these things went against his nature. He is a shy man who shuns spotlight and fears public affection like a plague. He has never turned away from any fight or peril but he fled from his homeland long ago because he did fear becoming tied down to political matters."
Mara swung one leg down to dangle it over the wall as she nodded. "Yes, I know he has suffered a lot. Deedra's Chain! I cared for him when Garn's spells and the loss of his homeland left him a broken guy. I tried to help the big lug. I even wanted to care for him after he was changed into an animal man by that creepy Technologist. When he was trapped as half man and half beast, he was wild but still had the same caring and shy manner about him when he could fight the animal urges that played games with his mind. It was only after Arion cured him that he turned so mean!"
Chian said, "Mara, girl, he lost his mother and his tribe to the flood created by Garn. Then, Garn enslaved him and turned him against Arion. You can't claim that you don't know what that did to him! His devotion to Arion was so strong that having it twisted into hatred slowly drove him mad. He never got to recover from the madness because he fell into the hands of the experimenting fiends who made him half man and half beast! Surely, you can see that that kind of suffering would rob even a saint of certain traits of patience or restraint?"
Mara jumped down and said, "Chian, don't misunderstand me! I can forgive him for that. I can even justify the way he tried to.. you know. He was like an animal when he grabbed me but what I can't forget is the way he laughed at me with T'Gallah because I ran away from him."
Tears began to form in her expressive eyes as Mara relived her ordeal. She had been thrilled to see the handsome guardsman when Arion brought him back to normal form. She had flung herself into his arms and expressed her love for him. He had accepted her warmth and responded with a passion and roughness that frightened her and cheapened her feelings for him until they seemed nothing more than a sordid lust.
"I pulled away from him and he just laughed. He laughed a harsh laugh like some kinda of animal! Then, I heard him talking to T'Gallah. They were making fun of me! I had to get away so I ran into the rougher part of the city and found Dharel! His music and singing attracted me and I lost myself in the fun of just watching him perform! That seedy tavern was like a beautiful palace thanks to his talent. I guess what really thrilled me the most was the way he came over to me and talked to me. We talked for hours and hours and I found him to be a real dream come true. He's gentle and funny and warm. I think I may love him!" said Mara slowly as she stared off into space and seemed to see the young blond singer who had charmed her so completely.
Chian shook her head and said, "Mara, Dharel is closer to your age. He also shares your power of shape changing. Still, do not rush from one crush into another passion that might harm you. Be calm and think clearly. Find the center as I have told you when I gave you lessons with the blade!"
Mara said, "Dharel is wonderful! He saved Queen T'Gallah when the City sank! I hoped you'd be happy for me! Still, I guess Arion has you under a spell too!"
Chian said, "Mara, I will not listen to more of your mad talk about Arion. He cares for you and Wyynde. He did all he could to help him. Wyynde knows that. Why do you persist in hating him?"
Mara grew angry and said, "Arion is to blame for every bad thing that happened to Wyynde. He brought Garn to Khewannan-Tu in his own body! He let him escape from that prison in the middle of Wyynde's home. He failed to stop him from killing all those people! He failed to stop him from driving King D'Tilluh to end his own life! He let Wyynde be changed into a beast and then did nothing to fix his mind! Arion even let the City of the Golden Gate sink! He's useless and I hate him!"
She shifted form and changed from a petite and pretty girl to a white winged dragon! She flapped her leathery wings and soared away leaving Chian to gaze up at her in concern.
"She is troubled by more than young love and first loss! Why does she still hate my beloved so much? It is as if she never recovered from the madness of Garn's spell that controlled us all! This Dharel worries me as well. He may take advantage of the girl if I do not stop him!" sighed Lady Chian.
"Ye've got more than that girl to worry ye're self about now! Ye also have to deal with the likes o me!" said a striking woman who stepped out of the shrubbery and growth that covered the clearing. She wore black leather pants and a top of the same material. Her hair was fiery red and came down toward her elfin face in a row of jagged bangs. Her icy blue eyes blazed with an intensity and passion that gave even Chian pause!
"Who are you? What is your problem with me? I will warn you that I am in no mood to trifle with you!" said Chian as she scowled and drew her sword.
The other woman smiled coldly. "Well, now, that's more than fine with me! I'm nae going to trifle with ye. I'm aiming to do nought but cut you down where ye stand!" she said as he raised her own sword and raced forward!
Chian lowered her blade and blocked the woman's first swing. The clang of the swords rang out in the empty glade and Chian darted aside nimbly even as her foe stepped closer and spun her blade around to deflect Chian's own weapon.
"Come on! Is this all ye kin do? I thought a kinstealer like you would give me more of a fight?" mocked the red head.
Chian ducked her foe's swinging blade and rolled across the green to rise up and connect with the flat of the blade.
The other woman staggered aside and kicked her in the face. "Oh? Now, did that get a rise out o ye? Good! Let me see how ye like this!" she said. She jumped in the air and allowed Chian's own attack to sail below her feet. She landed and elbowed Chian in the nose before whirling around to bring her sword down across the green clad woman's back.
Before they could continue their fight a blonde girl of ten ran forward and shouted at them. "Owyns! Chian! Stop! Stop it!" she said.
Chian and he foe dropped their blades and glared at each other as the girl drew closer. "Lyla? You know this vixen?" asked Chian.
The woman in black leather glowered and said, "Aye! That she does! I be her sister! I've come to rescue her from the likes of you!"
Lyla said, "Owyns, Chian saved me from Da! He wanted to give me to the slavers! She is my friend!"
Owyns said, "She saved you, aye, but for what purpose? You know nought about the world, child! She may have designs o her own!"
Chian said, "Your father the Huntsman wanted to give Lyla as payment for your tribal debts. I stopped that. She came with me of her own free will!"
Owyns placed both hands on her hips and said, "Be it so, girl? Well, then mayhaps, I was a bit hasty. Still, kin be kin and I'll be takin' the girl with me!"
Chian said, "I will cut you down where you stand before I allow anyone to take her back to that cruel fate!"
Owyns said, "Will ye? Will ye indeed? I rather doubt that! I be countin' the bruises 'pon you left by my strong arm. I don't think ye can stop me but I will tell ye plainly that I want nothing more than to see her safe. Our Da was a brute. I ran away from him years ago. I don't wish to see his face again this side of the Cold Lands."
Chian said, "Come with me. We will talk. You can see the city. Lyla and you can talk as well."
Lyla took her sister by the arm and said, "Owyns, come with me, now! Please! Ye'll like it here!"
"Very well, child! I'll give ye a chance!" said Owyns as she nodded slowly and studied Lady Chian coldly.
***
As Mara winged her way over the city in her white dragon form, she failed to notice a group of irate people who stood sorrowfully before a ruined building. They muttered and cried and some shouted in anger but the girl was lost in thoughts of her own and did not notice them.
The oldest man in the group seemed to be some kind of spokesman. He turned to face the others and spoke in measured tones like a skilled orator. "Friends, this sight brings me near to tears but rather than submit to such useless sorrow I will instead rouse myself into a purposeful anger! This temple, once sacred to the great goddess Deedra, was defiled and left in ruin during the dark days of Garn Daanuth! Now, he is dead and we are free to restore the shrine to its lost glory! We will not forget the pain we feel now as we see the Earth Mother's hearth left in ruin. We will move forward though and restore it to even greater beauty than it knew before!" he said as the crowd roared in approval.
In another part of the city, another group met with equal anger and emotion. They were a group of outlaws that had long used the abandoned city as their base. Their leader was a big bald man with a skull etched upon his bald pate in red and blue hues. "We won't let those refuges from the City of the Golden Gate drive us out! We've ruled these streets for years and we'll continue to do so! So swears Skullus!" he cried.
The dirty and brutal group echoed his boasts and pledged their loyalty.
Finally, a more fearsome crowd had assembled in a darkened chamber that was barely illuminated by a few flickering and smoldering candles. They came from different walks of life. Some were dirty and wore barely enough to keep them warm; however, others were dressed in the rarest of silks or wore gaudy jewelry from foreign lands. Still, the odd group shared the same expression of almost hypnotically induced rage!
They moved and shouted as music filled the room and a young man with artfully upswept and dyed hair sang to the masses on an elevated stage. His words were slurred as if by narcotic influence but the audience appeared to understand his message clearly.
There was something sinister about his singing and the atmosphere was heavy and dark with a hint of danger and death. He lowered his voice to a whisper and the song ended as the entire crowd screamed or raised their hands in salute to his performance. The young man named Dharel smiled in recognition as a dark gowned beauty stepped on to the stage and placed one hand on his arm.
Her nails were bright red and sharply shaped. She was pale but her brilliant red lips and heavily painted eyes stood out in sharp contrast to her pallor. She wore a filmy black gown with high heels and long fingerless white gloves. She spoke in a voice that alternated between a sweetly toned aubade and a raspy croak. "Do you feel the power and the presence? The darkling prince hears your cries and he stirs. Know that he will remember your worship and reward it when he comes into his own. Cursed Tynan's spell shall not hold him forever! Until the day of awakening comes anew, we will carry on in the name of Kr'rth and we will do what would please him. We will bring death and pain to this place and in so doing we will sanctify it in his name!" she said.
"Kr'rth! Kr'rth! Kr'rth!" screamed the cult as the sultry Abbess of Kr'rth smiled in appreciation.
Within the crowd stood the now human Mara. She had arrived moments before and she stared at Dharel with adoration in her wide eyes. She moved with the mob and seemed to retain none of her former spirit or self-will.
Although, the outlaws led by Skullus and the worshippers of Deedra did not realize it, their own rage and passion also fed the slumbering Kr'rth as did the frenzied cries of his cult. In a place not of this realm, the sleeping monster stirred slightly and then remained still again.
***
At an oddly simple but well-made table, Queen T'Gallah, Wyynde, Lady Chian, and Arion gathered along with Owyns and Lyla. The food was equally plain but it had been prepared by the master chef who had served old King D'Tilluh for generations so the meal was a treat in spite of the rather ordinary conditions in which it was served.
However, as the ever-discerning Lady Chian observed all too well, Arion did not bother to do more than make the most perfunctory efforts to eat the food before him. The Mage brooded in his chair and did not seem to hear his friends or see the food before him. Lady Chian, now clad in a green and gold dress with a sea shell pattern, leaned forward and said, "What troubles you so, my love?"
Arion looked up and frowned because his revelry had been noticed. "I'm sorry, Chian. I know I have been a churlish guest this evening; however, I feel something is not right. Some vague mystical sensation tugs at me as a will o the wisp at the edges of my mind's eye. I would find the source of the feeling and this desire distracts me from even a meal prepared by good Chef Tola," he said as he took Chian's hand in his own.
The Warrior Woman nodded and said, "I know enough to trust your instincts on such matters; however, I also know your nature. Brooding is the norm and not the exception!"
Arion smiled slightly and said, "True enough, Milady. Still, even the grim High Mage of Atlantis may assume a cheerful countenance when in the company of his lady love! Thus, I will make the most of a bad situation by asking you to join me in my quest!"
Chian rose and said, "A stroll by moonlight is too tempting an offer to refuse. I will join you in a moment!"
Arion stood up and gazed at her with an inquiring look in his dark eyes. "I must get my sword. Moonlight and romance do not rule out sudden danger!" she said with a smile of her own.
At the other end of the table Queen D'Gallah, rather splendid in a feathered dress of brilliant red and heavy golden bracelets that adorned her bare arms to the shoulders, kissed Wyynde abruptly and then said, "That was nothing more than royal privilege!"
Wyynde smiled and pulled her into his lap as he kissed her roughly and said, "And that? That was nothing more than the desire I feel for you!"
T'Gallah tossed back her head and laughed as she noticed the startled expressions on the faces of a few guardsmen and courtiers who lined the hallway or sat at other tables.
Lyla ate excitedly and babbled endlessly as she tried to tell her sister everything that had happened to her since their previous parting. "Da tried to make Lady Chian bring me back to the Tribe when I ran away but she wouldnae do it! She challenged him and won in a fair combat!" said the little girl.
Owyns nodded as she gazed at the girl with her icy and striking eyes. "Lass, ye did the right thing! I don't want ye to think I forgot about ye. I came back to the Tribe to protect ye when I realized ye had reached the age of trade. Da was none too pleased to see the likes o me. He knew I had run away long before and that's why he was so bent on not letting ye go without a fight. Old Corum said ye'd gone with the Lady Chian so I made me way here. I nearly lost hope when I found the ruins of the City of the Golden Gate! Now, tell me truly, be ye happy here?" asked the flame haired beauty in black leather.
Lyla said, "I am happy! Chian is teaching me to ride and to use a sword!"
Owyns said, "Well, may she be a better teacher than she is a fighter!"
Lyla laughed and said, "Owyns, be nice!"
Owyns smiled a brilliant smile and said, "For ye, I will try!"
***
Dharel carried Mara over the area of Mu in which the Cult of Kr'rth had established their base. The blond youth's black bat-like wings easily supported his weight along with Mara's. He enjoyed the sensation of holding the platinum blonde girl close and he inhaled her perfume with pleasure. She said, "You know I could change to dragon form and fly on my own but I like having you hold me like this!"
He smiled and said, "I enjoy being near you. I remember the first night you came into that tavern in the City of the Golden Gate where I was performing. You made that smoky room glow like the morning sun!"
She blushed and replied, "I could have been on fire myself! I was so enchanted by your voice that I would have walked right into the fire without even caring!"
He said, "You do like to hear me sing, don't you?"
She said, "I love it! I feel like you are singing just to me even when I am only one person in a crowd!"
Dharel said, "That is how it should be! I want my audience and especially you, to feel as if every note is meant for their ears alone!"
They landed near the old building that house their cult and they entered to find the Abbess being adorned with gold and onyx jewels over a black and gold gown. She gestured to the couple and they approached even as she abruptly dismissed her servants. "Welcome, Mara! It pleases me to see how swiftly you have become as one with the Family of Kr'rth!" she cooed.
Mara said, "Well, Dharel helped me see the truth. He made everything so clear to me. His love taught me to hate! He made me feel the liberation that comes with anger! Wyynde, Chian, and all the rest treated me like a performing pet. They saw me in terms of my power and not as a person with feelings and ideas to contribute as well. Most of all, I now realize how Arion is to blame for everything that happened to me!" She trembled as her rage grew stronger.
The Abbess extended one heavily ringed hand and touched her cheek tenderly. "Never fear. Arion will be among the very first to suffer the displeasure of our Darkling Prince!" she said as her dark eyes gleamed with passion.
"He and I have debts to settle from our last encounter!" she hissed.
***
Arion and Lady Chian made their way through the streets of Mu until they heard angry voices and hurried footsteps. The lithe and agile Chian slipped forward and peered into the night before returning to where Arion waited. "It sounds like more angry brigands only from the sheer volume I would wager this group is more mob than gang!" she said as she fingered her sword.
"Well, tis just as well that I came to join ye!" said Owyns as she stepped out of the shadows behind the couple. She had drawn her own sword and light gleamed off of it as her own icy gaze met Chain's own.
"Owyns! I would welcome your sword! I have reason to know of its skill!" she said wryly.
Owyns smiled and said, "Aye? My temper be as quick as the blade I carry. I am sorry I misjudged ye before. I thank ye for aiding my sister!"
At that moment Skullus and his gang rounded the corner and loomed into view. They were angry and ready for violence. Arion said, "This is no ordinary mob! They seem to be under a spell. It is like the mob was a swarm of bees being guided by blind instinct!"
He stepped in front of the group and shouted, "Stop! I command you to halt!"
Skullus grinned and said, "I will stop when I have placed the bodies of every one of your filthy Golden Gaters on the pyre!"
Lady Chian scowled and said, "Perhaps, this might be time for some more physical persuasion!"
Owyns said, "For once we be in agreement, Lady Chian!"
Arion gestured for the women to fall back as he spread wide his arms and a blinding flash of light filled the night sky.
Skullus cried out in pain as the powerful illumination left him temporarily blinded. His followers suffered the same fate as they cried out and groped for some type of support. "Curse you, Mage! If I could just get my hands on you!" cried Skullus.
Lady Chian darted forward and knocked the burly, bald man flat with one swing of her fist. She led Arion and Owyns aside and then conferred with them in whispered tones. "You've calmed the mob. They won't do any damage while they are too blind to see their own hands. Let me signal the guardsman we passed a few streets back to bring troops and round up this gang!" she said.
Arion nodded and said, "Excellent, idea! While you do as much, I shall trace the source of their rage!" Lady Chian nodded and raced off into the night.
Owyns said, "Pardon me for askin' but surely they were just ne'er do wells out for blood! The cause of their destructive ways needs little examination!"
Arion said, "I fear you are wrong. I sense a magic dark and dire about their actions tonight. I felt the stirrings of their master back at the palace. I have felt that taint before like the canker of an open sore. I fear an ancient evil is loose this night and it feeds upon such madness like a vampire!" He rose up into the sky and flew over the city even as Owyns stared upward and shook her head.
"These Atlanteans be a strange lot! Still, where that nobleman goes, trouble follows so I'll be doin' the same!" she said.
Arion landed before the old building that housed the Abbess of Kr'rth and he nodded slowly. "This is the source of the darkness. Like the odor of carrion this place bespeaks of death and decay. I will find the source and end it swiftly and surely as dawn ends the dark!"
He entered and found himself facing the black robed cult of Kr'rth. Many people would have retreated from such a palpably evil assembly but Arion merely walked forward boldly and announced his presence in stentorian tones. "Kr'rth! I recognize your stench! Know that I will not tolerate your kind. This city suffered too long under one darker than you and I will not permit any more harm to come to these people!"
The Abbess of Kr'rth laughed her silvery laugh and stepped on to the stage to confront Arion. "Arion! I welcome you here. My Darkling Prince has unfinished business with you as do I!" she said.
Arion glared at her with contempt as he said, "When last we met you were foolishly trying to seduce a phantasm I left behind in your private chamber. Your chances of defeating me are equally as insubstantial!"
The Abbess shouted in anger as her dignity was wounded in front of her cult. "Silence his mocking tongue! Silence him for the glory of Kr'rth!" she shouted. A pounding wave of music filled the darkened hall as Dharel stood on the stage and began to sing in a dirge-like manner!
The cult members rushed forward to attack Arion even as he vanished from sight and left them to crash into one another. Each cultist saw another cult member as Arion and fought to subdue his own ally! In truth, he had concealed himself from their view completely.
"Very clever, high lord Arion! Still, your illusions can't fool me! I see you and know you, Spawn of Calculha!" said a thunderous voice as a massive creature with a humanoid build, lurid red skin, and curved horns appeared before him.
"Kr'rth himself! You've absorbed enough malice and hate from these dupes to escape the limbo prison in which Tynan first placed you and I last left you!" said Arion as he stared up at the giant being. Kr'rth laughed and the sound echoed through the chamber like the sound of breaking glass. "How can hate be contained when you petty mortals breed so readily and carry the seeds of destruction within your paltry bodies?" he said.
Arion made no reply. He merely gestured and send a blazing bolt of mystical force surging through the gloating monster.
Kr'rth shrugged off the attack and brought his hand down to crush the much smaller mage.
Arion's magical shield stopped the clawed hand from crushing him but it did nothing to deflect or repel the attack itself. By Deedra's Chain! He resists me! I bested him before with power loaned to me from my father but now even my own fresh might can not halt his rampage! I know he feeds upon the hatred and anger of his followers but that is nothing new! What makes this time so different? he thought. He concentrated and gently expanded his force field until it grew larger and pushed the hand of Kr'rth away.
The Abbess of Kr'rth screamed with pleasure as Kr'rth smashed through Arion's shield and clawed at him with a savage delight. "Now, you are not so high and mighty are you, Arion? Now, you are the plaything and not the gamesman!" she said.
"Kindly shut up!" said a newcomer as Lady Chian crashed into the room and tackled the mocking Abbess. They crashed off the stage and wrestled on the floor as neither women could gain the advantage.
"Shocked by my strength, Captain? You thought me some pampered paramour who lived off her looks and other women's mates, didn't you? Well, the Darkling Prince gives power to his Bride!" cried the Abbess as she choked Chian.
Chian drew both legs up to her chest and kicked the Abbess off of her body. She rolled over and wrapped the other woman's voluminous gown around her arms and face. Your strength will be of little value if you can not see to use it! she thought.
Meanwhile, as Wyynde led other summoned guardsmen into the room, the Cult began to be surrounded and contained. "Arion! We are with you as ever!" shouted Wyynde as he brought his sword down to shatter the nearest Cultist like a broken urn.
Owyns ducked under a tossed knife and kicked the thrower in the face. "Ye'll not catch me with that type of roguery!" she declared.
Arion struggled in Kr'rth grasp as pain filled his body and he saw the room begin to fade before his senses. He fought to free himself even as the keening dirge of Dharel filled his ears. Dharel! When I saw him here, I thought the stripling nothing more than a callow youth taken with what he sees to be darkness and danger. Now, I wonder if he is not much more! He does possess a magic as demonstrated by his wings. Perhaps, he has more magic than I realized! he thought. He ignored Kr'rth and concentrated on Dharel.
By Calculha! Yes! He is an empath of sorts. The music of his song projects emotions of his choosing. He is artificially enhancing the flow of hate and anger that gives his Darkling Prince power! The boy is like a living energy crystal that fuels a sky skimmer! he realized.
Arion chanted in words known only to a few adepts and Dharel gasped as his voice was suddenly and abruptly silenced! The music ended and Arion forced his way out of Kr'rth's grasp. "Now, you'll feed 'pon these misguided fools but only at a rate in which you gain gradual power and by that time, I will have returned you to a prison of my devising!" he said.
Kr'rth scowled and flames gutted the entire room.
Arion shielded his friends as well as the followers of Kr'rth and flew directly at the monster. "You care little for these deluded men and women who bartered their humanity to offer your worship. Well, in time they will recover from this night and they will see you for what you are and ever have been. You are a petty evil made large only by deceit and hate. I will reduce you to your more proper scale and I will do so with the light that has ever defied you!"
Arion's star-like emblem exploded over and through Kr'rth and as the magical glyph enveloped the monster, he screamed and began to shrink until nothing could be seen of his former majesty! Arion smiled coldly and said, "Without the immediate rush of power that foolish minstrel's magic song gave you, you were no match for me!"
He turned to see Wyynde and Owyns leading the guardsmen as they subdued the now listless Cultists. "We have them, Arion!" vowed Wyynde.
Lady Chian waved a gauzy black garment in the air and said, "The Abbess is a slippery one! She managed to escape but we've routed her master and left her to her own feeble resources!"
Arion nodded and said, "She was nothing more than a petty temptress. I have no fear of her!"
"Fear me!" shrieked a voice that echoed through Arion's mind as a huge white dragon swooped down and hovered above him. A serpentine black dragon swiftly joined the white one to surround the Mage.
"Mara! That's Mara!" whispered Lady Chian.
Owyns said, "And that black thing with her was the singer yon Arion silenced! He must still possess his polymorphing power even without his infernal voice!"
Arion stood his ground as the transformed Mara and Dharel closed in on him. I can sense Mara is lost to the siren spell of Kr'rth! His darkness touched her when she was first filled with anger at me because of Wyynde's suffering and it only spread like a disease when she was rejected by him! mused Arion.
He shielded himself from their twin blasts of fiery breath and hesitated for a moment before turning his back on Dharel's black scaly form. He flew toward Mara and dodged her snapping jaws until he drew close enough to touch her directly below her ridged brow.
For a moment nothing happened and then the two flying figures were gone.
"Arion's magic has taken them away!" gasped Owyns.
Wyynde grimly gazed up at the remaining black dragon and vowed, "And my blade will take away this fiend's very life as well!" He jumped forward and swung his sword in a dazzling arch until he had made contact with one leathery wing. As he sliced through the creature's wing, he also made himself a human target for the fiery breath that blazed out of the monster's mouth.
"Wyynde!" cried Lady Chian as she charged forward and tried to fight her way through the fires.
He ignored her cries and sliced savagely onward as he used the monster's own bulk to partially shield his body from the blast.
"Get back! He's nae gonna hear ya! He's like some animal!" cried Owyns as she pulled Chian away from the inferno.
Chian nodded reluctantly as her friend vanished behind the wall of fire.
Dharel clawed at Wyynde even as the warrior of Khewanna-te took full advantage of a momentary lapse in the fiery rain to carve into the side of the struggling dragon-man!
Wyynde ignored the cuts and the burns as he used his sword to rend the monster. He finally stood over the fallen and mortally wounded creature as it shifted back to human form. Wyynde leaped over the blazing rubble and stumbled over to fall at the feet of Lady Chian.
"By the Seven, he has been badly burned! He acted like a beast and ignored any reasonable safeguard. He just wanted to kill Dharel!" she said as she bent over the injured guardsman.
"Arion himself couldn't save him now!" said Owyns.
Chian shook her head and said, "That remains to be seen. Now, where is Arion?"
Where was Arion? Arion had transported himself and Mara into a magical realm of pure thought.
He knew the shape-shifting girl communicated via mental telepathy while in all of her inhuman forms, and he also knew the surest way to free her of her Kr'rth inspired madness was to touch her mind directly with his own. Thus, he had brought them both to a realm in which the mind was all and physical being was nearly unknown. She was still in dragon form or that was how her mind presented itself to him.
He said, "Mara! Shed your beast form. That is the first step on the road to recovery! I command you to do so by the power that is mine alone!"
She roared and then slowly her reptilian form began to change until it became more humanoid in appearance. This change was followed by a gradual disappearance of her scales as well. Finally, she stood before Arion in her normal body. She stared at him in rage and rushed forward to strike him.
All that truly occurred was her mental projection attacked his own mental image. The combat was not physical but the effects were all too real.
"Arion! I hate you! You ruined my life! Your brother took over my home of Thamuz to use it against you! He sent those men to get the Ares Zodiac crystal we kept in the house so he could use it to fight you! They killed my father! They killed him and left our home in flames!" she cried.
Arion felt the pain of her rage as if it was a physical thing and he winced as he tried to withstand it. However, he did nothing to resist it.
Mara struck at him again and again and shouted, "You didn't kill Garn Daanuth when you had the chance! You brought him to Wyynde's home and let him free right in the middle of the place! You are the cause of the death of every one of Wyynde's tribe!" She referred to the brutal way Garn's magic had created a tidal wave that destroyed all of Khewanna-te!
Arion looked down but did not turn away or try to resist her.
"You were gone when Garn took over all our minds and broke Wyynde's spirit. It was his devotion to you that drove him mad. He couldn't resist Garn's spell but his loyalty to you was so great the two desires just shut down his mind! Then, when you came back and found him like that, you didn't help him. All you did was fight Garn and whine about your lost powers!" Mara wept openly as she screamed at Arion.
"You let Wyynde be turned into a monster and then you failed to do anything but restore his body! His mind is so messed up still that he acts like a brute and not the great guy he was when I met him. You left him like that and that's why he tried to force me to.. .he tried to make me...!" She stopped speaking as her cries changed to an anguished weeping.
Arion stepped forward and lifted her chin. As she looked into his eyes, he opened his own mind to her telepathy. "You have showed me your pain. Now, see my own. See my own guilt. Feel my sorrow!" he said. Their minds communed for moments and then she lowered her head and wept in his arms.
"I'm sorry! I misjudged you. I was like a bratty child who lashes out at the person who is around merely because they are around!" she said.
Arion said, "You are not to blame. Kr'rth used you more than I knew. When I last fought the Darkling Prince, I forgot that you also engaged him in direct combat. You impaled him with a unicorn horn while you were in that form. His very essence touched you directly. That started your descent. Dharel made it worse. He will bother you no more. I wish I could say something to make you feel better. I have ever been a solitary man with little skill in human warmth or arts."
Mara smiled slightly and snuffled as she said, "We'll make a human out of you yet! I saw something when you linked minds with me. You intend to cure Wyynde don't you? I was so wrong about you!"
Arion nodded and said, "I will help my friend. That is my duty and my promise."
At that moment, he returned them to the material world where they gazed down at the injured Wyynde as Chian, Owyns, and others tended to him. "By the Seven! Have I restored one ally only to lose another?" cried Arion.
He touched Wyynde and looked up at Chian. "Hear me, all gathered here this night. I will save my friend if it costs me all I am. This is my vow!" he shouted.
An unseen entity watched from beyond and said, "Ah, little mage, it just may exact that precise price!"
Epilogue
The next day as Arion and T'gallah sat by Wyynde's bedside, Chian turned to Mara and said, "He refuses to leave his side. His magic has done much to heal the burns and remove the pain but he has not been able to restore his mind or awaken him from his trauma."
Mara said, "I see T'Gallah has been here all night too. She must truly love him."
Chian said, "She does. We all do. Mara, I am sorry I was not there for you when Dharel led you to such danger and pain."
Mara said, "You had a life of your own to lead. I'm fine. Arion made me see the truth." She hugged Chian for a moment and then abruptly backed away.
"I'll get us some food. Since so many of the guardsmen are helping those disgruntled folks repair the temple of Deedra, we're gonna be short handed!"
She referred to the practical steps Queen T'Gallah had taken to try to appease some of the angry people in the city in order to prevent such madness from being used by Kr'rth again.
She walked away as Kali muttered to Owyns, I saw the pattern in the stars! Wyynde may die tonight. I should have read them more clearly but I doubted my charts. I fear we will lose him ere long!"
Mara did not hear her words, she was occupied with other thoughts and other feelings. When Arion touched my mind with his own and opened up to me in a way not even Chian has experienced with him, it did more than free me of hatred. Deedra forgive me! I think I'm in love with him now! she thought.
And so as one story ended on an uncertain note, another began!